Download - Discovering Unmet Needs and New Solutions with Participatory Design

Jennifer Briselli Managing Director, Experience Design

@[email protected]

Participatory DesignDiscovering Unmet Needs & New Solutions

What is Participatory Design?

Why might you use these this approach in your own practice?

What are some methods and activities, and how do you choose them?

What does it look like? How do you do it?

What do you do with the results of a workshop?

Overview

What it is:

An approach to design that invites all stakeholders (e.g. end users, employees, partners, customers, citizens, consumers, patients, providers) into the design process as a means of better understanding, meeting, and sometimes preempting their needs.

What it is not:

A way to make your users do your job for you A single prescriptive method or tool A rigidly defined process

(see also: co-design, co-creation, co-production, collaborative design) A holy grail


Involving the people were serving through design as participants in the process.


Design Process

DISCOVER

Adapted from Double Diamond Model of Product Definition and Design from UK Design Council

DISCOVER SYNTHESIZE

Design Process


DISCOVER SYNTHESIZE GENERATE

Design Process


DISCOVER SYNTHESIZE GENERATE FOCUS

Design Process



EVALUATE

Design Process




Generates design principles & direction

Generates viable solution concepts

Where does participatory design fit in?

Participatory design methods, especially generative or making activities, provide a design language for non designers (future users) to imagine and express their own ideas for how they want to live, work, and play in the future. - Liz Sanders

In other words:

It leads to better experiences & outcomes.

Why its useful

Generative methods uncover latent needs.

Image: Liz Sanders

Framing: Identifying goals, objectives, key questions, hypotheses

Planning: Planning activities that answer these questions

Facilitating: Ensuring & documenting productive participation

Analyzing: Making sense of it all to identify actionable insights

How to do it

1. Choose table group & topic

2. Discuss your personal experiences within this topic

3. As a group, identify a specific problem space, challenge, or subtopic that everyone in the group feels some familiarity with

4. Write the problem statement youll focus on today

How might we improve...How might we support...How might we reduce...

Group Breakout & Topic Selection

Topics

Navigating a confusing health insurance situation

Living with a chronic condition

Challenges of being a caregiver

End of life care

Supporting people with addiction

Providing care to underserved populations

Pregnancy support

Choose your own

Framing

Stakeholders, Co-creators, End Users

Challenges & Goals

Questions & Unknowns

Assumptions & Hypotheses

Choosing Activities

Framing

Three categories of activity

Narrate: Participants help us understand their needs via storytelling

Create: Participants generate ideas and create prototypes of products, services, or experiences (these can be very realistic or completely unrealistic) Sometimes participants create viable solution concepts Sometimes participants create items that give designers insight & direction

Prioritize: Participants make connections and judgments that help us understand the value of potential design solutions

Choosing activities & methods

Telling stories helps participants express more detailed and emotionally resonant experiences. These activities are intended to elicit memories and help build empathy and understanding.

Examples: Journey mapping Love letter/breakup letter Collaging Empathy mapping Knowledge hunt Reenactments

Narrate activities

Participants can provide a lot of insight when provided tools and opportunities to design without constraints or expectations.

Examples: Magic screen/button/object Interface toolkit Physical/paper/rapid prototyping Fill in the blank Ideal workflow Ecosystem mapping

Create activities

These activities help participants and designers evaluate and understand the value of existing experiences or potential future design solutions.

Examples: Card sorting Channel sorting Value ranking Storyboard/Concept speed dating Bodystorming/Gamestorming

Prioritize activities

The design prompt sets the stage and ensures participants will focus their contributions on the goals, questions, or hypotheses youve identified.

For example:

Use the items provided to create a perfect remote control.

Draw an imaginary classroom that provides all your educational needs.

Create a script for the ideal interaction between a student and counselor.

Design Prompts

1. Identify a design goal for your topic problem statement

Framing: Lets Try It

1. Identify a design goal for your topic problem statement

2. Create a design prompt for participants

Well try two activities today: Collage Magic Object


Collage

This activity helps members express their experiences and needs in a way words can sometimes fail to describe. Participants will also put themselves at the center of the map, which allows us to understand how members conceive of their own agency (or lack thereof).

How: Participants are provided a prompt and asked to spend 30-45 minutes creating a collage that describes their feelings about the prompt. Participants are then asked to share and discuss their collage. Facilitators may ask participants to elaborate to better elucidate examples and opportunities.

Materials:paper, images, glue sticks or tape, writing utensils, post-its

Magic Object

Providing members with materials that allow them to engage in a making process can provide insights about potential design solutions as well as uncover latent needs.

How: Participants are provided building materials and a prompt, and asked to spend 30-45 minutes creating the objects.Participants are then asked to share and briefly discuss their creations. Facilitators may ask members to elaborate on aspects of their explanation where appropriate to elucidate examples and opportunities.

Materials:Paper, construction materials, glue sticks or tape

1. Identify a design goal for your topic problem statement2. Create a design prompts for participants

Activity 1: CollageEx: What does the health care landscape look like to you right now?Ex: What does your experience as a health provider feel like to you?

Activity 2: Magic ObjectEx: Use the items provided to create any kind of tool, service, or magic item that would make the hospital stay experience better for you.Ex: Use the items provided to create a magic device that would make your daily nursing responsibilities easier to manage.


Planning

Where: office, school, home, outdoors, in context

Who & how many: large group, small group, individual

Observation methods: notes, video, photo, artifacts

Materials: construction kits, legos, playdoh

Logistics: recruiting (>2 weeks), honorarium, volunteers, observers

Planning

Facilitating

Be prepared

Be yourself

Be flexible & adaptive

Be reflective

Be warm & friendly

Facilitating: Participation

Document Document Document Dedicated note taker(s) Photograph Record audio & visual when possible Keep artifacts when possible

Ask participants to tell you about what they create Show & tell Share a story Write a commercial Create a pitch

What they create is often less important than how they describe its value.

Facilitating: Capturing Value

Facilitating: Lets Try It

Activity 1: Collage

ParticipantsFollow your groups design prompt to create a collage based on your own personal experiences.

FacilitatorsObserve your groups participants. Take notes and ask questions. Near the end of the activity, you will ask each participant to explain their creation.

Facilitating: Lets Discuss

Activity 1: Collage

ParticipantsWhat did you think about the experience?

FacilitatorsWhat kinds of things did you see, hear, and think during the activity?

Facilitating: Lets Try It

Activity 2: Magic Object

ParticipantsFollow your groups design prompt to create an object based on your own personal experiences.

FacilitatorsObserve your groups participants. Take notes and ask questions. Near the end of the activity, you will ask each participant to explain their creation.

Facilitating: Lets Discuss

Activity 2: Magic Object

ParticipantsWhat did you think about the experience?

FacilitatorsWhat kinds of things did you see, hear, and think during the activity?

Analyzing

Cull: Cut irrelevant or incomplete information

Normalize: get everything into a common format excel text documents grids post-its

Review: Follow your instinct analysis is as much art as science

Expect to spend at least 2 hours of analysis for every hour facilitating.

Analyzing

Raw Data Notes Photos Videos Audio Artifacts

Normalized Data Spreadsheets Post-its Transcripts

Participant Clusters

Opportunity Clusters

Theme/Affinity Clusters

Identified Patterns

Potential Output Focus Areas Design Characteristics Design Principles Solution Concepts Prototype Ideas

Participant 1

Notes & Photos

Participant 2

Participant 3

Opportunity 1 Opportunity 2

Pattern 1 Pattern 2

Opportunity 3

Analyzing: Lets Try It

As a group, share your notes from each activity.

Organize your post-its and other documentation and work together to identify 3-5 key themes or patterns that emerge from your analysis with the topic your activities explored.

Each group will identify and share 3-5 insights, patterns, or ideas, and produce a next steps statement.

Analyzing: Lets Discuss

How did it go? What did you learn? What would come next? What would you do differently?

What are the most important takeaways for your organization?

What are the most important questions we left unanswered?

What are the aspects you are most and least confident about implementing in your own practice?

Wrap Up

Jennifer Briselli Managing Director, Experience Design

@[email protected]

Thanks!

Download - Discovering Unmet Needs and New Solutions with Participatory Design

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